


A Charmed Mess

by lyonessheart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Post-War, Pre-Slash, Sentient Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-06-30 06:42:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15746376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyonessheart/pseuds/lyonessheart
Summary: It was meant to be a bit of a friendly competition between former rivals. So how did it turn into this mess?





	A Charmed Mess

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, my dear Smirkingcat! And dear prompter, I hope I have managed to make a little of your hopes for this prompt come true.

She is ancient, has seen more than a few struggles within her walls, but all of them resolved themselves over the course of times. But throughout the last few years, the tension has grown, malicious feelings festering like a wound not properly cleaned.

She would shudder if she could, would try to cleanse herself of the taint of hatred that has seeped into her stones. But she can’t, it isn’t right yet. She still has to wait - for there is still hope for those who walk through her corridors.

So, she waits and listens.

\-------------

Silence reigned in the Headmistress office. The headmistress looked at the two young men in front of her. They looked exhausted and pitiful. McGonagall’s eyes softened a little and she sighed. If anything the sight of them convinced her no evil intent was behind the current situation.

“So Filius, what have you found out?”

Her colleague fidgeted. “Well, I do believe that the two gentlemen had the intention to make their comrades smile, and you do have to admit that there is something funny about the situation.”

“Glad that you think this is funny.” Mr Malfoy spoke up but there was no fire in his words. 

She worried about him, and she took his appearance in more carefully. His normally bright hair seemed dull somehow and he had dark circles underneath his eyes. His cheeks were red, but that was due to the small cloud that permanently hovered above his head. Occasionally the cloud shuddered and released a small shower of snowflakes which settled onto his nose. If the overall situation was not so dire, she would have found this adorable.

“Well at least someone is smiling.” Harry quipped. In a sense, he had a similar effect of the spell manifestation. He was surrounded by a constant stream of wind that kept ruffling his hair. But it was gently blowing and not whipping him, “But you have to believe us that I didn’t plan on flooding and freezing Slytherin dungeons.”

“Just like I did not cast a spell to conjure a permanent rainstorm in Gryffindor tower!”

Filius coughed, “Well, I know that you didn’t intend to do this. But I understand that you have been pranking each other since we learned weather charms?”

“Well-” Harry didn’t look straight up, a clear indicator for his guilt. “I wanted to get a reaction from him.”

Mr Malfoy drew a sharp breath at that admission. “Why couldn’t you just leave me alone? Haven’t you beaten me enough already?”

“What?” Harry turned red.

“Gentlemen!” Minerva had enough. “I honestly don’t really care who started this, but the fact is that something else has taken control of the weather spells that you used.”

“Of course headmistress,” Draco Malfoy addressed her, but the dull tone of his voice forced a shudder from her.

“I am sure that you will meth out the appropriate punishment.” It was clear that he expected no fairness from her and she felt ill at the thought of a student so beaten by life.

She didn’t like to see him in such a state and so decided to focus on her other student.

“Harry, I expected better of you.”

He seemed to shrink into himself, and she continued to talk fast. “But I understand that I might have expected too much from all of you. I had hoped that this year would give all of you the chance to heal, instead, I left you too much to your own devices. You wanted to make life lighter by pranking each other?”

“Yes, Minerva I never wanted to hurt Draco or the Slytherins. I only cast the Flurry Charm. It was supposed to make it snow in the Slytherin common room, but instead, Draco here turned up with his personal snowstorm and the Dungeons are flooded. 

“This was truly supposed to be a prank!?” Draco reacted with disbelief. As if he couldn’t understand fully what he was hearing. Given that Potter didn’t look smug or happy about getting one over him, instead of miserable and contrite. His eyes softened a bit as if he could almost believe that Harry hadn’t done it on purpose.

“Merlin help me! Potter, a continuous breeze through the Gryffindor Common room to ruffle your hair and make Parchment flutter away, or an occasional rainstorm within the bathroom where you are supposed to shower anyway, that is a prank!” He raked his hand through his hair, mussing it up subconsciously.

“Yeah, I never thought I would see the day when I agree with you.” Potter shrugged helplessly.

“I just wanted to make you laugh! You have been so cut off since you came back, and I couldn’t stand seeing you like this.”

“So what do we do now?” 

“Potter, I hate to repeat myself - Slytherin’s Dungeons are flooded and frozen, Gryffindor Tower is caught in a perpetual tropical storm. We have nowhere to put the Children apart from the Room of Requirement. Or do you have another idea Headmistress?” 

Potter looked as grey as Draco felt. 

Filius smiled. It was such a displaced facial expression given the circumstances, that both young men startled.

“I believe that our dear Castle misunderstood the intentions of the charms.”

“What?” Minerva betrayed her bafflement

“Well, correct me if I am wrong but you Mr Potter cast the Flurry Charm first?” 

“Yes.” 

“And nothing bad happened until Mr Malfoy retaliated with the Breeze Charm.”

Harry looked at Draco and nodded.

“Yes, you cast at my back in the potions hallway, when I refused to take the charm of.”

“Forgive me when I say that nothing bad is a funny way of putting it.” Draco looked furious for the first time. “This imbecile made it snow in the dungeons! It just wouldn’t stop! Do you think it was fun to try and soothe the frightened first years? They were cold and crying! I just wanted him to feel a bit blown around since he thinks it’s so hilarious.”

Filius looked chastised. “But the flooding started later?”

“As soon as the charm hit him, I heard the screams from the dungeons,” Draco whispered. “I think I never ran as fast as then. I was scared someone was really hurt.”

“But when we got there, the kids stood outside the common room, they were wet and scared and cold, but all of them there and all of them unharmed,” Harry continued. “I realised that the charm had affected me as well, and then Ron sent me his Patronus that Gryffindor tower had shut all of the students out of the quarters.”

“So we brought all of them to the Room of Requirement, and then came to you,” Draco picked up.

“Yes, it is as I thought,” Filius said. “Hogwarts has pulled such a stunt before. She wants to prevent an all-out war from breaking out and thus tries to push the two people that she sees as the major source of tension together.”

“So, it would not be enough to cancel the charms?” Harry said quietly. 

“I dare say you tried doing that already no?” 

“Yes, but _finite_ didn’t work.”

“I am not surprised. You see the charms manifested what you think about each other. While you Mr Potter see Mr Malfoy as someone who needs to taw or be warmed up. Mr Malfoy sees you as a storm that throws everything into disarray.”

“And how do we solve the problem then?”

“I am afraid, you will have to talk your differences out.” Filius shrugged. “I believe that once you put your minds to it, you can work remarkably well together. After all, you managed to accommodate all of the students in the Room of Requirements, without anybody getting hurt. You faced up to your problems even though you both could have gotten in trouble.”

“Potter would never get in trouble with you,” Draco murmured.

“Well even if I didn’t fear trouble, I felt as much responsible as you! Getting you in trouble was the last thing I wanted!” Harry replied.

“Well Gentlemen,” McGonagall took up the conversation again. “Since Hogwarts demands that you two reconcile, I will open a teacher's apartment and have you room together for the next week. I trust that this is enough time to solve the problems between you two! The rooms are protected against hexes and curses.”

“You expect us to work through seven years in a week?” Draco looked straight at the headmistress.

“I have been young too, and let me say, Mr Malfoy, that situations like yours and Mr Potter’s tend to spring from suppressed passion more often than not. And given the fact that Mr Potter started this entire thing in order to make you smile - well, just see where this week takes you both.”

She looked at the two young men and saw that both of their ears were bright red, and while she usually didn’t condone relationships between students, they lived through a war and deserved happiness.

Once they left her office with Filius, she leaned against the stones,

“You really think they need to be together?” she whispered against the stones and could have sworn there was a faint rumble answering her question.

\-------------

She is ancient, has seen more than a few struggles within her walls, but all of them resolved themselves over the course of times. But throughout the last few years, the tension has grown, malicious feelings festering like a wound not properly cleaned.

Now though, she's found the two young men who can reconcile the world, once they get over own their initial hurt feelings.

She might have overreacted a bit, _maybe_. But they are stubborn and would need years to come together otherwise. So, she has taken the measures at her disposal and made sure they needed to work together. If she feels anything but passion and love from their quarters following their confinement, she might just keep them locked in as long as needed.

For now, she waits and listens - a thousand years have taught her patience.


End file.
